I'm Back

Wow - haven't touched this in ages.  Oh well, I might as well start going again.

Classes have started back up at Clarke, and life continues as it should.  My internship down in Atlanta, GA, went fairly well, and I arrived back home around the 8th of August.  For the next two weeks, I set about working on getting some things taken care of around the house, and going out and spending all of the money I earned over the summer. :/

I did end up getting a nice new set of living room furnature, at a drastically marked-down price: $825 for a sofa, loveseat, and chair, with leather armrests and microsuede cushions.  It's pretty nice, I must say.

HCI research is still going, and I'll be giving my presentation coming up shortly - November 6th, if I remember correctly.  I started looking at the OpenCV library, and want to start working with the camera abilities.  We'll see what happens - I'll keep you all posted.

Till next time.

Usability-driven Computing

I've been thinking about the state of computing now:  how people aren't as interested in using a computer as something to build upon, but as something that they have to work with.  People don't want to show how to make a new program, they're more interested in how to get their videos down from youtube, and check their facebook accounts.

With this being said, I'm worried that the current paradigm we use as those on the inside of the system won't cut it much longer.  I don't know what will be able to do to change it, but I think that we should start to think about building things with the purpose of making it beneficial to the user.  Not necessarily easy, but more intuitive. 

The technology building around multi-point interfaces is a good start.  Things like Multi-point X MPX  are good for the emerging computing idea.  Computers as devices need to become less static, and more situationally available.  Things like the Microsoft Surface demo (or, if you will, the Big-Ass Table) are good in concept.  We need to move along more in this vein, so that things will be done more to what people are going to be using in common tasks and in real life.

Information Overload?

While listening to TWiT this morning/afternoon, I'm at odds as to what side to pick in the Twitter problem. Some of the points that were brought up are valid - there are so many new services pop up that it's hard to focus on each of them. Between Twitter, Pownce, Facebook, Myspace, and all of the other places, it's getting harder and harder to keep track of all of the information that you need to.

On the other hand, I've normally been a person who doesn't like writing so much, and Twitter has become more of a common thing for me. Between the ability to direct message, and the fact that you can just put in a short blurb as to what's going on, it makes the ability to communicate that much more available. We aren't all Robert Scoble or John Dvorak - not everyone likes to write so much, so often.

Facebook works well for keeping track of people. Twitter helps in letting you tell what your friends are doing, but facebook is the one that really helps you know the quick and dirty of your friends. Besides keeping track of who is around, it also lets you know where they're at in the world - that's helpful, especially post-HS or post-college, when everyone splits and you want to keep track of them all. That way, you can see what's going on with everyone, after you've all left to go and live your life.

I have to agree with what Veronica said in the TWiT podcast - each of the different tools fill a different use. Twitter and Pownce, while being very closely related, are different in some ways - Twitter stays more on the simplistic side, where Pownce is more free as to what you can post (video, audio, etc.). Facebook works best solely as a social-networking system (as it should be - I don't even want to get started with all of these "applications" that have been added recently - not a smart idea), and Myspace is, well, for people who are to technologically inept to create their own website.


That being said, I like twitter, and I would like more of the people I know to start using it, just so we can keep track of each other.

What they didn't manage to mention is probably my favorite tool of the whole internet: Netvibes. Netvibes acts as a central hub of things to view, places to go, and things to watch out for. I personally keep a facebook plugin, a twitter plugin, one for Remember the Milk (which is awesome, but for some reason, doesn't like Firefox 3 betas - should be looked into), weather, web searches, and various rss feeds. It keeps everything organized neatly and centralized, and that way, I can focus on things that only need that focus.

Not necessarily trying to be a billboard, but I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to centralize what they're working on.

Intoductory post

Hello, everyone out there. I've set this up so that I have somewhere that I can put some general ramblings. I've noticed that I really don't do enough general writing, and so this is an exercise to change that idea. Hopefully, things come out and help themselves. At any rate, enjoy whatever comes.